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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Last week, my kids and I were miserable and sick. So, what did I do? Online shop. My online shopping spree took me to the Ginger and Liz site and one polish jumped out at me. Such A Lady: a rose gold foil with magenta and holographic micro glitters. Ooooohhhh ahhhhhh.

Such A Lady

Such A Lady macro

I love the rose gold trend right now and I'm really happy with this polish. The application and formula is great. It's the pretty I was on the hunt for.Ginger and Liz, Such A Lady can be purchased at Ginger and Liz.Anyone else loving the rose gold trend?

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Provided for review. I'm a little ashamed to admit I've never used Morgan Taylor polishes before. I live in a small town, and I've never actually seen them anywhere. When I was offered the chance to review a random sample of shades, I was more than thrilled. First the pretty pictures, then my thoughts.

If Looks Could Thrill: purple foil. Two coats, no top coat.

If Looks Could Thrill

Fire Cracker: red cream. Two coats, no top coat.

Fire Cracker

Sweater Weather: blue toned, dark grey cream. Two coats, no top coat.

Sweater Weather

Water Baby: baby blue cream. Three coats, no top coat.

Water Baby

La Dolce Vita: baby pink cream. Three coats, no top coat.

La Dolce Vita

Mint Chocolate Chip: mint cream. Two coats, no top coat. Shown with Stick with It base coat and Need for Speed top coat.

As you can see, the colors are pretty. The formulas were fantastic. I find that pastel shades are usually awesome or horrible, there's no in between. The pastel Morgan Taylor shades have an awesome formula. They are not chalky, apply great, and self level. The darker shades are fantastic as well.I wore Mint Chocolate Chip with the Stick with It base coat and Need for Speed top coat. It lasted four days without chips and wear but I had to take it off on the fourth day to work on other projects. I feel like that mani would've lasted a few more days had I left it on. Now that I've used these, Morgan Taylor will definitely be a brand I will keep my eye on. Do you like Morgan Taylor shades? Which ones are your favorites? Morgan Taylor (website) can be purchased in JC Penny salons and Loxa Beauty.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Provided for review. I love all things trees and leaves during fall. My days are filled with pumpkin flavored everything, Halloween shows, and open windows. It is fall! I'll spare you the Yo Gabba Gabba fall song and show you something more interesting. Fall water decals!

Born Pretty Store Item #20319

This is item #20319 from Born Pretty Store (Direct link). I placed these water decals over a white base and I love how these turned out. Water decals are easy to use, once you've become familiarized with them. They are more aesthetically pleasing than nail wraps. And, they leave you feeling like you added a special something to make it your own. I love these. Are you a water decal fan?Use code EPJX31 to receive 10% off your purchase.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Press samples/Affiliate links. Zoya brought back the MatteVelvet's for 2015. This is a beautiful line of shades with Zoya's signature MatteVelvet fleck finish. I loved the 2014 MatteVelvet's so much, I have backups of my favorites, and they are my most used polishes in my collection. Let's take a look at the 2015 line.

Zoya MatteVelvet Winter/Holiday 2015

Aspen (ZP814) - a sparkling artic white with a micronized diamond pearl fleck. This is gorgeous and I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would. Three coats, no top coat.

Aspen

Aspen macro

Sue (ZP815) - a soft champagne gold with a multi-hued oyster shell pearl fleck. This is my favorite. The color is so gorgeous! Three coats, no top coat.

Sue

Sue macro

Amal (ZP816) – a classic crimson red with a ruby red pearl fleck. Last year, the red was Posh. Every time I used it, I thought to myself, "I wish this was a tad brighter." This is definitely a brighter red than we saw last year. Three coats, no top coat.

Amal

Amal macro

Iris (ZP817) - a deep amethyst with a fuchsia pearl fleck. The fleck effect gets lost in this one. This formula is a tad trickier than the others. Two coats, no top coat. In hindsight, I should've used three coats.

Iris

Iris macro

Yves (ZP818) - a deep sapphire that's midway in between indigo and royal blue with a blue pearl fleck. The fleck also gets lost in this one. The formula on this one was thinner than the others and also tricky. This requires a careful application and a good base coat because this is a stainer. Three coats, no top coat.

Yves

Yves macro

Honor (ZP819) - a true emerald green with a tone on tone emerald pearl fleck. This is also a stainer. Three coats, no top coat.

Honor

Honor macro

I love the Zoya MatteVelvet line so I'm excited it was brought back this year. Aspen, Sue and Amal are my favorites. And, I can't stress this enough, I LOVE SUE! Love it. I found Iris and Yves kind of hard to work with. Maybe I was going to fast? It's possible. A few of these shades seem fairly close to some from last year and I'm working on a separate comparison post.Tips: don't overwork the polish, use as little brush strokes as possible, let each layer completely dry before applying the next.These shades can be purchased directly from Zoya or at ULTA Beauty.

Friday, October 16, 2015

The Bonita Forget Me Not Collection is incredible. I haven't bought drugstore polish in awhile, but when I saw a picture of this collection, I ran out and bought a set. Then, I went back and bought a second set for a friend.

Bonita Forget Me Not Collection

Golden Girl: a gold holographic micro glitter. This is such a thick, in a good way, micro glitter, that you can get it opaque without a base color. I used three coats below. It does not dry very textured. It was smooth after one coat of topcoat.
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What a fabulous collection! Such amazing glitters and shimmers in this collection. These are available at Rite Aid and retail at $1.49. At the time I bought these, they were also buy one get one half off.This is the first time I've ever used this brand. Have they always been this awesome?

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

DD Nail Lacquer's fall collection is simply named, Fall 2015 Collection. It's a gorgeous five piece collection consisting of two duochromes, two scattered holos, and a cream. Less talk more pictures! My thoughts and more information after the pictures.
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DD Nail Lacquer Fall 2015

Mocha Mornings: a gorgeous camel colored cream. In the right light, you can see a splash of orange shimmer. Two coats, no top coat.
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Mocha Mornings

Mocha Mornings macro

Late Harvest: a beautiful duochrome that shifts from pumpkin orange to cranberry. Two coats, no top coat.
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Late Harvest

Late Harvest macro

Ever Green: this is the exact shade of an evergreen with added scattered holo sparkles. Two coats, no top coat.
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Ever Green

Ever Green macro

Aurorealis: lavender to periwinkle duochrome. Two coats, no top coat. My two favorite shades combined into one stunning polish. This one is crazy beautiful.
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Aurorealis

Aurorealis macro

Cry to the Moon: a blackened, vampy purple with scattered holo sparkles. Another stunner. Three coats, no top coat.
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Cry to the Moon

Cry to the Moon macro

Every one of these shades are stunners and very reminiscent of fall. The formulas and application are great, just like my other DD Nail Lacquers. I feel like this brand gets better and better.This five piece collection is available as a full size (15mL) set for $40 or mini (5mL) for $22. They are also available individually, full size for $9 and mini for $5. DD Nail Lacquer also offers a build your own option of any shades from current or previous collections, six full size for $50 or four full size for $35.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Press Sample. Square Hue is a nail polish monthly subscription box that is available in two options, a box of two or a box of three polishes per month. This is my first time trying their product. First the swatches and then more information about this subscription box.
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Square Hue, October 2015, 90s Decade

Vogue: crimson, high gloss, shimmer. Three coats, no top coat.
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Square Hue Vogue

Y2K: gun metal, high gloss, shimmer. Three coats, no top coat.
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Square Hue Y2K

Desert Storm: nude, high gloss, cream. Two excellent coats, no top coat.
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Square Hue Desert Storm

The formula and application were good on these, especially Desert Storm. They dry very glossy. Overall, I thought these were great shades for fall.I never talk about names of polishes. But, come on, Desert Storm and Y2K? Why name these pretty polishes after negative events that bring back not so good memories for those of us that grew up in the 90s? What about cool things we experienced in the 90s? Grunge, Clueless, Channel 1 news (ha), Game Boys, the best SNL cast ever, I could go on and on. You can subscribe to the Square Hue subscription box at their website SquareHue.com. You have the option of a two polish box for $10.99 or a three polish box for $14.99. Those are some good prices for these. I'm impressed. The formula is "7-Free." They do not contain Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resins, Toluene, DBP, Camphor, Ethyl Tosylamide or Xylene.From the website, "Currently a portion of all monthly subscription proceeds are being donated for prevention awareness, the protection of trafficked victims and the prosecution of human traffickers. Need more information regarding human trafficking? Check out the A21 Campaign." I don't know about you, but I'm more apt to throw my money at a company that will donate a part of it to a good cause.